Ask the Slot Expert: A quick take on a new Quick Hit machine

Someone was playing my favorite Quick Hit Blitz machine. No problem. I'll play my favorite Quick Hit Reel Boost machine.

Uh oh. That machine is in use too. What to do?

I could call it a day and try again on my next free play or point multiplier day. I had already reached my point goal for the day playing video poker. It had been a while since I had gone exploring on the slot floor, so I put on my Indiana Jones fedora and set off on my adventure.

Crazy Rich Asians was still in the spot where my beloved Game of Thrones machines used to be. I liked the movie, but I don't feel a desire to play the machine. Ironically, the game might be identical to that on Game of Thrones, the only difference being the graphics on the different symbol types. (It doesn't matter whether it's Double Diamond or Double Jackpot, the game and the math can be the same.) I'll keep it as a maybe.

There are a couple of Planet Moolah variations near the entrance. Put them on the short list.

Oh, here are some old Quick Hit variations. I used to play them a lot. And the Playboy Quick Hit machines are still on the floor. I had some luck on them. The graphics on these older machines aren't as sharp as those on the newer variations and some of the screens have a severe case of image burn-in. I'll keep them in mind if I'm overcome with a wave of nostalgia.

Wait a minute. Here are some machines I hadn't noticed before. There's a Quick Hit symbol on the large screens on the tops of the machines. And you know I'm a sucker for Quick Hit machines.

I found two new Quick Hit variations -- new to me, at least. Quick Hit Fortunes Blitz in both the Jungle and Volcano flavors. Let me try 100 spins on each because my guesstimate is that most machines award some sort of bonus event about once every 100 spins. In addition to the usual Blitz bonus round, these machines also feature a Free Games bonus. Maybe I can experience both in my 200 spins.

First, a trek through the jungle. After a few spins, I figured out how these machines work. (No one reads the help screens before playing, do they?) Instead of having to land three Blitz symbols on the screen to trigger the Blitz bonus, on these machines the Fortunes bonus is randomly triggered whenever a tiger symbol lands on the screen. A jewel flies out of the tiger symbol up to the basket that the beautiful lady is holding. If the basket is full, the bonus is triggered.

The basket is, well, bullshit. The relative fullness of the basket has nothing to do with whether you get the bonus.

I watched a video of this machine on one of the slot-playing channels on YouTube. After landing a tiger symbol, the personality said, "I guess you get the bonus when you will the basket."

Um, right at the bottom of the screen on the machine is: "Any [tiger symbol] can randomly award the Fortunes feature".

Now is a good time to take a moment and discuss the differences between bonus proximity indicators on machines. On many machines, like these Quick Hit Fortunes Blitz machines and Chinese-themed machines with rice bowls, filling the basket/bowl is nugatory (found that word looking up synonyms for meaningless). The bonus can be triggered on any spin regardless of how full the bowl is. You've probably noticed that the bowl is bottomless. It can be filled to the brim and still have room for more doodads without triggering the bonus.

On other machines, the indicator is real. I wrote about Bao Zhu Zhao Fu a few months ago. This game has three different bonus features, color coded purple, red and green. You activate a bonus feature when you light up all of the firecrackers of the corresponding color that are above the reels. When a purple symbol lands on the screen, it lights up a purple firecracker; a red symbol, a red firecracker; and a green symbol, a green firecracker. On this machine, the number of lit firecrackers really does indicate how close you are to triggering a feature.

As a general rule, if the indicator is quantifiable and countable, it's probably real. (Hey, I lit up all the firecrackers and I didn't get the bonus. What gives?) If the indicator isn't quantifiable -- there really isn't any way to tell how full the bowl is -- the indicator is not real. Like Jello, there's always room for more.

Check the help screens to know for sure whether the indicator is real or just for fun.

Another difference between these machines and Quick Hit Blitz is that the symbols that can launch the bonus round are also wild. A nice touch that I really like. It's so frustrating to have a bonus symbol land in the middle of and ruin what could have been a winning combination.

I was lucky and ran into many tigers in the jungle. That's kind of surprising because, according to the World Wildlife Federation, tigers don't live in the jungle.

Nevertheless, I got the Fortunes bonus twice in my 100 spins on the machine. During my first try at the bonus, I noticed that my credit meter wasn't increasing at all. I've had some Quick Hit Blitz bonus rounds in which I didn't land many, if any, winning combinations and most or all of my winnings were from the bonus levels. I made it up to the $300 bonus level this time and didn't have any extra credits from winning combos hit on the way.

The rules became clearer on my second visit to the Fortunes bonus. The amounts for the different levels are fixed and not tied to the Quick Hit progressive amounts. And all the other symbols on the reels are grayed out. Your winnings in the bonus are determined solely by how many Fortunes symbols you get and how high up the bonus ladder you climb. I made it up to the $100 level this time.

One hundred spins, two bonus rounds, $140 profit. Not bad.

Then I moved over one machine to Quick Hit Fortunes Volcano. In the battle of John versus the Volcano, John came out ahead. One hundred spins, three bonus rounds (two for a not-too-exciting $40 and one for $300), and a $250 profit. I'll definitely play these machines again. I haven't gotten the free games yet.

I took another crack at the volcano today. I made up for the dearth of free games last time by getting them three times today. The number of free games you get is determined by a pick'em game. I got 10, 8 and 15 free games. Despite playing on the bonus reels, my free games winnings weren't very bonus-like at $22, $16 and $48. Well, that last one was pretty good.

I also hit the Fortunes bonus three times, but the Fortunes symbols just didn't want to appear. I won $20 on each bonus.

All told, 200 spins, three free games bonuses, three Fortunes bonuses, and still the molten lava (Is there any other kind of lava?) from the volcano vaporized my winnings from my last session at Quick Hit Fortunes Blitz.

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